The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1887-05-07
WOMAN AND HOME.
MOTHERS TRAINING THROUGH THE
DISCIPLINE OF DOLLS.

MOTHERS TRAINING THROUGH THE
DISCIPLINE OF DOLLS.
Mrs. Jenness Nfiller's Lccturc-IAn Eco.
nomical Bonnet - Hanging Pictures.
Lacc-Items of Interest.
1t is very instructive fact that two of the
best mothers know-and mothers it must be
added, OH tho largest scalc-havc had their
preliminary training solely through tho
Charge of dolls. visited lately tho nursery
oil one OF these mothers, arranged as the col
lcctvc play room of six children under 10;
there Ecing also three older offspring who
have graduated from this play room, and arc
III q ma!i:!er launched into the world outside
In this room everything is provided 10y whole
sale; whole freight trains of toy wagons,
wooden horses enough fer all to ride ut once,
and 400 blocks for purposes of architecture
Hero the six play pcrl'ctually together whilo
they are i'll doors.
This pattern mother, conducting without
nurse this large world OF little beings, tells
mo that She grew up not only without
younger brothers and sisters, but without
kn"wic':.,e of young children. Up to tho
tim %. ,soE marriage, ;.t.,aa, she has no rccol-
lecii''n oI ever having taken any care of
ch.i,!. What, then, prepared her for this
vast sphere Of duty. this rearing of nine
young i;i:nor:alsi 1t was. she assures mo,
the disc: :!,inc OF dolls;
Up To the ago of Is her experience with
dolls was on the very largest SCALE She hal
seldom less than twenty, each with its own
Wui. robe Ornn nlpntS and
night of her life the twenty dolls we've un-
dressed and put to bed before their mistress
went, and all their clothes wcre
neatly folded and put away separately.
During the day, doubtless, each doll
had lis own career md position; was fed at
tahie, fitted with new clothes, elevated into
grandeur or rcprcssc'l into hunblcncss. When
Their young mistress grew up, they were
doubtless laid aside or transferred to other
children, or hanis.ea to the dusty purSatory
OF tho garrct from which no doll iscver trans
lated To paradise. l forget whether Hams
Andersen has ever duly clroniclcd the tra-
ecly that lies at the end of every dolls life:
it is worse than that of any other pet. An
old horse is often rendered. an aged dog is Mt
least shot, but all old doll is left to lie forever
Oh its back in tho garrct, gazing with one re-
manning eye OH the slowly gathering cubwcs
above it. AT any rate, the lady describe
was, after an interval of ten years, rcas-
signed to tho duty that had absorhc, her in
Eirlhood; only this time tho dolls were alivo
On the other hand there We're fewer of
them-only nne-nnd they were, and arc,
even more interesting, as can testify, than
the dolls Her experience reminded no of
that of another mother whose eight children
are now practically grown up, and whose
l notI {eps ps,,t,, Il. q
had little to do with children in her youth.
but her only sister once sld to me, 81 always
knew that - would DO a good mother.
When we had paper dolls, she always knew
Just where each one was and what clothes il
needed. sho manages her children Just as
she did her paper dolls"
How curious is this world of dolls! Uncouth
and savage in Alaska, quaint in Japan, strong
and solidly built in Germany, graceful in
Paris. You can tell German dolls from
French, 1t is said, by the greater cllllnsiness
OF the extrenlities; no matter how pretty tho
face, the feet and ankles are those of II peasant
In both countries, believe, artificers visit
the rural villages to study new faces for their
dolls, us in ancient Greece the scuptors trav-
eed aboutthe country looking for beautiful
forms. Everywhere the doll is to the child tho
symbol of humanity, the first object of res
possibility, the type of what is lovablc, tho
model on which tho dawning parental instinct
practices itself. Tho little girl does not know
the faults ond virtues of her own tempera-
ment until this imaginary being brings them
ont, being now tended with the sweetest care
now flung vehemcntly into OH uutlcserved
corner. 1t is all imaginary, no doubt. but
much of our scnsibilty lies in the imaeina-
ton; the woes VIC relieve arc those we vividjy
picture to ourselves. Children will some
times cry when the doll is prirked in
sewing on dress, OF is forgotten when she
should be placed at tho window to see the
procession go by. Tho sorrow is fantastic,
but the thoughtful sympathy is real Who
ever listens in tho nursery will hear ull tho
problems of ethics rehearsed upon this mimic
stage of tho dolls house. In the travelling
diary Of child of 8, written literally from
her own dictation for her absent futhcr, the
important events of tho pilgrimage were
always shared by the doll. "Whcn we got To
Eico was sick The next morning the doctor
came, and he said had something that was
very much like scarlet fever. Then l had
Annie n sister, take care OF baby che dolD
and keep Der away, for was afraid she would
get the fever She used to cry to come TO me-
but knew it wouldn't he good for her."
To n child thus imaginative and thus faith-
full this was nn absolute rehearsal of mother
hood. When Christmas came. it appears
from the diary that baby" hung up her
stocking with the rest. She had d slate with
Il real pencil, a travelling shawl with strap
and cap with ruiIlcs. 81 found baby with
the cap on early in the morning, and she was
SO pleased that she almost jumped out of my
arms" AT the Coliseum, at St. i'ster's, baby
was Of the party. II used to take her to hear
the band, in the carriage, and she went
everywhere did" This tenderest of parents
was, of course, girl; yet boys take their
Share of it in more robust and intermittent
way, and will take the doll to bed or to
breakfast, sometimes, as eagerly as girls. Tho
love of dolls with both sexes is variable
thing perhaps delayed unaccountaBly or
interrupted by long intervals of indifrcr-
encc. at any rate. it is the relearsng Of
the most moinentous part of human life, that
which carries oh from ono generation to an
other the sacred fire of human affection.
Where the doll ends the child begins, or, as
an author has said: "In q nursery the
youngest child is little more than doll, and
the doll is little less than child."-"T. w.
H." in Harpcr's Bazar.
Mrs. Jcnness Miller's Lecture.
The audience i'll Steinway hall was slim
when Mrs ,Jenness Miller entered rron tha